A UK report has revealed that the standards of living costs for British families have risen five times more than their earnings in the past six years.
The report released by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) showed that a British couple with two children needs to have an annual earning of £40,600 in order to have an acceptable standard of living compared to £27,800 in 2008.
The JRF, a social policy research and development charity, said that its research showed a growing gap between what Britons needed to earn and their actual incomes.
According to the charity, the amount required to cover a family’s basic needs in Britain has soared by 46 percent since 2008, while average earnings have only grown by nine percent in the same time period.
In addition, many British families have lost out due to government changes to the welfare system.
The report showed that, for every £1 low-income working families have received from the raised tax allowance, they have lost up to £4 as a result of the cuts to tax credits and child benefits.
Abigail Davis, one of the authors of the report, said a growing number of the people in Britain were falling below the minimum income standard and could not afford to buy basic goods.
The report’s findings showed that the cost of a minimum basket of goods has increased by 28 percent in the past six years, an amount higher than the official inflation rate of 19 percent. Furthermore, the prices of domestic energy rose by 45 percent and bus travel by 37 percent.
The charity said action is needed in areas such as the cost of essentials, wages of the lowest earners and the way the government offers support in order to help ease the burden on British households.
